National Treasure
National Treasure is the 2004 film starring Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, and Sean Bean. Plot The story centers around a young man named Benjamin "Ben" Franklen Gates, whose family believes in the legend of a fantastic treasure trove of artifacts and gold, hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Accumulated through centuries of plundering and conquering, the treasure eventually becomes too massive, and is deemed too dangerous for any one man (or king) to possess. Therefore through time it has been relocated and hidden. In the present, Ben with his friend Riley Poole enlists the aid of a treasure-hunter Ian Howe and his comrades to find the clues that lead to this treasure. Both Ben and Riley are enthusiastic "treasure protectors," but Ben is especially a history fanatic. Their talents come in handy on their adventure: Ben has degrees in American history and mechanical engineering (the former from Georgetown University, the latter from MIT) and is an expert diver. He is a cryptologist, while Riley is a computer specialist. The first clue, given to Ben by his grandfather, and passed down from Charles Carroll of Carrollton - one of the last of the sworn protectors - stated that "The secret lies with Charlotte". By use of charting water currents and the freezing tendencies of the northern waters of the Arctic Circle, the group finds the wreckage of an old Colonial-era ship, the Charlotte. Inside, Ben finds an ancient pipe and a piece of blank paper. Ben uses his blood to uncover a riddle carved into the pipe. After examining the riddle, Ben deduces that the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. However, Ian and Ben fight over the true purpose of the quest, with Ian wanting to steal the Declaration and Ben not wanting to do anything of the sort. A standoff ensues which results in Ian and his men escaping and the Charlotte exploding from the gunpowder strewn about its remains. Ben and Riley crawl out of the remnants of the ship while Ian and his team race away to procure the Declaration, believing the other two to be dead. When Ben and Riley reach Washington, D.C., they attempt to warn the authorities about Ian's planned theft of the Declaration. They try to inform the DHS, FBI and finally ABigail Chase (Diane Kruger), who works at the National Archives, but all assure them that the document is so heavily guarded there's no way someone could steal it anyway. Ben thinks otherwise, however, and decides that in order to protect the document he is going to have to steal it. Ben and Riley use a series of tricks to get inside the preservation room, where the Declaration is being kept during an anniversary-gala. Ben takes the Declaration but runs into Ian, barely escaping. As Ben is exiting the building, however, Abigail catches them in the crime and refuses to let the document be taken. Ian shows up again and kidnaps Abigail, who is holding the Declaration from Ben, and a high-speed car chase ensues across Washington D.C. Ben successfully rescues her, at the same time managing to trick Ian into thinking a souvenir copy is the true Declaration. Since Abigail won't leave without the document, Ben and Riley are forced to kidnap her. Also, a credit card slip from Ben gives the FBI Ben's identity, preventing Ben from returning to his apartment to examine the document. Ben and Riley agree that the only safe place to go would be to Ben's father's house. Upon arriving, Ben's father chastises him for the quest, believing the treasure to be nothing more than a hoax, invented to keep the British occupied during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Despite this, Ben manages to reveal a series of codes on the back of the Declaration. Ben deduces that they refer to the Silence Dogood letters. Ben, Abigail and Riley head to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, where the letters are being shown. The decoded message from the letters ("The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow") leads them to the Liberty Bell. That in turn leads them to the "house" of the Bell, Independence Hall, where they find special bifocals invented by Benjamin Franklin. Ben examines the back of the Declaration wearing the glasses to find the next clue. But Ian and his comrades, right behind them the whole time, find them and demand to have the Declaration and the special glasses, leading to a chase around town, ending in Ian getting the Declaration. However, Abigail & Riley escape. Ben is eventually caught by the FBI, and they try to make him pull an agreement with Ian, to get the Declaration back. He agrees, but Ian has arranged a way to get Ben away from the police — by having him jump from the intended meeting spot, the deck of the USS Intrepid, into the Hudson River. Ben is forced to help Ian find the treasure, as Ian has captured and brought along Ben's father, Abigail and Riley. The clues lead them to Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City and then underground, into a network of dungeon-like cellars, centuries old and decaying. There, they arrive at a seemingly dead end. Ian is angry and demands another clue from Ben. Ben's father quickly makes one up, telling him the lanterns are the clue and to go to the Old North Church in Boston. Ian goes with his men, leaving everyone else to die. When Ian has gone, Ben then explains that another exit would have been built in case of cave-ins, most likely located in the treasure room. Ben and his comrades find a hidden passageway that leads into a treasury chamber. To their disappointment, they find it empty, and assume that the treasure was moved yet again for its protection. Ben's father consoles him by telling him that at least they found evidence the treasure exists. Riley then reminds them that they have yet to find the second exit, so they continue to examine the walls. Ben manages to find a hole, with a shape resembling that of the ancient pipe found on The Charlotte. Ben puts the pipe in the imprint and turns it with the stem of the pipe and the wall opens into the true treasure chamber. When Ben initially sees the treasure, he seems disappointed that it wasn't as extravagant as he had hoped. But he soon uses a torch to light a flammable powder that runs throughout the room, revealing how vast the room really is, and also revealing much more treasure. Among the riches are artifacts from Egypt, Rome and Britain, with both "intrinsic and historic" value (treasures such as scrolls from the Library of Alexandria). Via the second exit from the treasure room, Ben and his friends find their way out of the tunnels and back to the church. Ben discovers that the chief investigator, Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel), is a Freemason. However, he does not attempt to suppress the discovery of the treasure, and Ben proposes to give it to various museums around the world. Ben assures Sadusky that Abigail had nothing to do with the theft of the Declaration and asks that credit for the finding of the treasure be given to the Gates family with Riley as an associate. Sadusky thanks Ben for all this, but still insists that "someone has got to go to prison" for this. Ben replies, "Well, if you've got a helicopter, I think I can help you with that." He helps him plan a stakeout at the Old North Church, Boston, where Ian and his team are apprehended. As Ian is thrown to his car, he looks up and there's Ben, standing in the doorway of a house. Ian looks at him. Ben just shrugs. The U.S. government offers Ben and his friends 10% of the treasure, but Ben takes only 1% of it, splitting that with Riley. The final scene sees Ben and Abigail together, living in a historic mansion they have just bought. Riley is last seen driving off in his brand new red Ferrari 360 Spider, scoffing at his "unbelievable" 0.5% of the treasure. List of all clues and their meaning See List of clues. Category:National Treasure